For once, work was slow. I had an afternoon free of appointments, Sally agreed to come over to the house to watch Chloe for a bit, and Oliver and I had date plans. I mean, plans about a date. Plans to plan the date of Chloe's birth. For fuck's sake. We were going to escape and plan out her birthday party.

It wasn't a date, but I wanted to do something different. Get out of our usual circle of things. Try something new. We were supposed to be getting everything planned for Chloe's birthday, yes, but I wanted to thank Oliver for everything he did for us. And how complicated could a three-year-old's birthday really be? I took him to a French patisserie Tammy had recommended to me. It was about thirty minutes away, but "totally worth the drive," according to her.

It had been the right move. Oliver's eyes lit up at all the brightly colored macaroons. "Wyatt, these are perfect! We need these for Chloe's birthday! We can get the pink ones with the blue filling, and the purple ones with the pink filling, and the yellow ones with the purple filling. Unicorn colors!"

The server behind the counter quirked an amused eyebrow.

"I'll take a latte," I said, "and whatever that chocolate thing there is. Oliver?"

"Oh, uh..." He shifted his eyes away from the glass case to review the drinks. "A French press coffee. And can I have one of each of these macaroons?" He pointed at the three he had been gushing over.

I slid my card to the cashier before Wyatt could open his wallet. "My treat," I insisted.

"But—"

"You won't let me pay you extra for helping plan this birthday party. The least I can do is buy you coffee and sugar."

"Well, thanks." He flashed me that soft grin of his that made me want to promise him anything. I looked away.

He snorted in disgust as I poured sugar into my latte. The one negative against this place so far was they didn't do flavored syrups for their coffee drinks. Just the basics.

Once we settled in at a booth with our drinks and desserts, Oliver pulled out a three-ring binder.

"Okay, we need to go over cake, other food, decorations, games, party favors and entertainment."

"Cake—unicorn, of course."

"Naturally," Oliver said, marking it down. "Other food?"

"Well, you said macaroons? How are they?"

Oliver set the binder down to take a bite of the yellow macaroon. His eyes rolled up into his head. "Oh yes, these. Even if the kids are too undeveloped to enjoy them to their full potential, these are a must. But we can't have just sugar."

"Why not?" I asked. "I've said it before; sugar makes the world go round!"

Oliver ignored me. "I know it's not super unicorn-y, but what about pizza? Pretty much everyone loves pizza."

"Works for me." This birthday stuff wasn't taking long at all. I felt a stab of regret. I'd figured on this taking at least an hour. An hour where I was allowed to stare at Oliver because his nose was in his planner.

"Now, decorations."

"A couple of streamers and a dozen helium balloons?" I asked.

Olive glared at me in disdain. "Really, Wyatt? That's all you got? Never mind, I'll take over decorations. Games?" He turned the binder slightly toward me. "Here's a list of my top choices."

I tried to turn my head to read them, but the angle was wrong. "One minute." I stepped around the end of the table and made him scoot in so I could sit next to him. I really had just been angling for a better view of the binder, but my subconscious must have taken over, giving me an excuse to be near him. I could have just pulled the damn binder over to my side. I forced myself to focus on the list of games. "Pin the horn on the unicorn? Like pin the tail on the donkey?"

"Exactly like."

"Definitely that one."

"What about a unicorn piñata?" I asked.

"Do you really think Chloe is going to be excited about bashing a unicorn until its guts fall out?"

"Gross! When you put it that way...no piñata."

We picked a couple other games to fill in the time as-needed.

"Oh, where are we going to get the cake?"

Oliver looked at me like I'd stomped on a puppy. "Birthday cakes are made, Wyatt! Not bought!"

I looked at him with an equal expression of horror. "I can barely ice a plain cake, let alone a unicorn cake."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll ice the cake. But you have to help bake it."

"Oliver, seriously, it's okay if we buy the cake. Chloe won't know the difference."

"I will know the difference," Oliver said, staring down his nose at me in disapproval.

How could he look so enticing while attempting to shame me? And shaming me about cutting corners for my daughter's birthday? It was ridiculous. And adorable. Ridiculously adorable. He was Chloe's birthday knight, guarding the sanctity of the birthday party. He didn't have to do this, but he wanted to. He wanted this party to be amazing for my little girl. He was amazing.

The disapproval faded into confusion and I realized I was staring at him with a smile.

"What?" he asked.

I didn't think, I just reacted. I reached forward to cup his cheek with one hand and pulled him forward into a kiss. For a microsecond, he was motionless and I started to realize what I'd done. But then he responded, his lips moving beneath mine and every thought flew out of my head. I reached my other hand to his waist and pulled him closer, forgetting we were planning Chloe's birthday party. Forgetting we were in public. Forgetting he was my employee.

But not for long. I pulled away for a breath and the thoughts that had vanished while his lips were on mine descended with a vengeance.

"I'm so sorry," I said, jumping out of the seat. "I shouldn't have done that."

"No, it's—"

"You don't have to defend me to myself, Oliver." I picked up my coat. "That was inexcusable. I shouldn't have put you in that position. Trust me, it won't happen again. Are you ready?"

He was silent as he nodded and followed me from the building. The ride back was uncomfortable. We had talked and laughed the entire way out, but the thirty-minute drive back was cold. I hoped I hadn't fucked things up irrevocably. I needed Oliver in my life. I couldn't believe I had risked it all so thoughtlessly.